Job 39:14

Study note

Setting — God addresses Job in a rhetorical discourse on the natural world, describing the ostrich’s reproductive behavior to illustrate the limits of human control over creation.

The words — תַעֲזֹ֣ב (ta.'a.Zo) translates to “it abandons,” and תְּחַמֵּֽם (te.cha.Mem) means “it keeps [them] warm,” directly recording the bird’s method of exposing eggs to ground heat.

The thread — This description of neglected eggs runs directly into Job 39:13, which contrasts the ostrich’s wings with the stork’s, and Job 39:15, which states the bird forgets the eggs can be crushed.

Why it lands — The text states a biological action without moral evaluation, requiring the reader to note the physical reality of incubation before the narrative shifts to the eggs’ vulnerability.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.